The World of Mortals
by Doused
Summary: Skyworld is boring. Pit thirsts for adventure and to see the people he worked hard to save.
1. Bath

Golden bubbles grouped and rose to the surface. Breaking open, they evaporated into steam, returning to the heavens from once they came. A mess of brown hair erupted between them. A gasp, then blue irises scanned the clouds above.

Pit was troubled. He stared up at the slowly inching clouds for a bit, before sinking into the golden waters of the hot spring up to his nose yet again. It had been 3 months since Hades had been defeated, and everything seemed to be back to the norm.

"It's soooo boring." He blew bubbles in the healing waters thinking of his past adventures. It had been 25 years since he got any action, and now, in less than 3 months, it was over. 3 months ago he set his first steps on the earth which the gods ruled over, and now, he was soaking in Skyworld's hot springs for the 3rd time this day.

"Well then, Pit, what should we supposed we do?", the familiar voice made him instinctively cover himself, even though he was fully dressed for this very same reason.

"G-Goddess P-Palutena!," he blushed. "Would it be that much of a bother to knock?"

The goddess covered her mouth in an attempt to stifle her giggle, " Oh come on Pit. You're dressed anyways."

"Well the only reason I am is because this always happens…." He whispered to himself, sinking further into the water.

" I can still hear you Pit." The angel blew bubbles in protest.

Palutena rose to her feet and seemed to glide over to the edge where Pit was. She ran her delicate hands through his hair. Pit's anger slowly left him as he sat there dreamily content at the head massage. " Now what's wrong?"

"Oh yeah." He had nearly forgotten. "I want to go back to earth."

Palutena plucked a single hair from his head. The boy cringed and jumped out of the water.

"Owwww. Hey what was that for?" Pit rubbed his head. The centurions, seeing their signal, rolled in a cart, and sat Pit upon it. They quickly worked, one of them pulling out a golden comb and feverishly brushed out the knots in the commander's mess of a head, another carefully wiped down his downy wings. Yet another brought in a fresh tunic and sandals, which Pit brushed away, as he gave a nervous glance toward Palutena who glared at him.

"Now why would you want to go down there, Pit?" she finally replied.

He stared down at the floor, searching for the right words. In his mind, there was no reason correct enough for him to ever want to set foot on the land of mortals yet again. Skyworld had everything he could ever want. Skyworld was his as commander. Skyworld was were Palutena created him and resided in. There was no rational reason to leave, but then, the world of mortals was not exactly a rational place. The Centurions finished their work by placing the golden laurels on the commander's head and took their leave. Pit and Palutena stood alone in silence.

"Pittt…." He cringed. Better to tell the truth.

"I want to see the people I saved! You told me yourself that humans were the creatures on earth closest to gods. We're in charge of protecting them, and I'm upset I don't know them at all! I don't know what I'm protecting, and that's...that's just sad. Plus, it's boring here. "

Palutena sighed deeply, and quickly pulled back her dark green hair into a bun before jumping into the sacred waters of the spring. A dark blue mist seeped from where the goddess entered and spread over the water, creating a murky darkness. The goddess was gone.

"P-Palutena!" The angel exclaimed as he ran around the edge of the spring, looking for a sign of his goddess. "Oh, what should I do? Goddesses can breathe underwater can't they? What if they can't? What if I don't find her in time? Then I'll have to take care of Skyworld myself…that sounds like so much work. "

"Skyworld isn't so boring now, huh Pit?" He swung around suddenly and lost his balance, falling face first into the water which had returned to its golden color. He turned over, greeted by the smiling face of the goddess who extended an arm to help him.

"I can get out myself." Pit pouted, as he stood up, adjusted his laurels, and wringed out his tunic. "You scared me Lady Palutena."

"I'm sorry Pit, but I can't just let you call Skyworld boring. I created it after all." Palutena smirked and placed her hand on her chin, suddenly thinking. "As for the other reason you want to go to the land of mortals, I decided that you have a very good point. You should see what exactly we are protecting. You may leave tomorrow."

Pit's wings flared open, showering the surroundings with spring water. He leapt into the air screaming in joy. " Whoooohooo! Thank you so much Lady Palutena!" He ran up to the goddess, jumping into her arms and giving her a tight hug.

"Awww Pit, you can be cute sometimes you know?" The goddess laughed. Pit quickly turned away to hide his flushed face.


	2. Flight

"Today's the day", whispered Pit, perched above the central temple overlooking the land. The early morning light had just begun to hit Skyworld, swallowing up the darkness greedily. He spread his wings to bask in the warmth of the sun. The gentle breeze ruffled his feathers and swept through his hair.

He gave a small smile at the giant statue of the goddess that overlooked this land. It would be the last Skyworld morning he would have for a while, and he wanted to enjoy it. This is a good way to do it, he thought.

Below him, the morning light had awoken the Centurions, who stumbled out of their quarters and began to line up one by one for their morning duties.

"Commander Pit!" someone yelled from below. Pit stood up to peer downwards, but it turned out there was no need. The Centurion Strongarm had already flown to him despite Pit's orders to never fly unless he ordered them too. Truthfully, it was a rather limiting rule, but Pit made no effort to hide the reason behind it. He couldn't fly so they shouldn't either and that was that. A sudden urge to call the Strongarm out for disobeying swelled up in his throat, but no, it was his last day here. He decided to let it go.

" Yes, Centurion Strongarm?" He stood up straight as he could, like a commander should. He had to leave them with a good impression.

The hulking muscle of a soldier saluted the commander and delivered his message. " Should I start the daily exercises, sir?"

No mention of him heading toward the world of mortals. Pit thought it was odd. He wondered if maybe Palutena just didn't want to panic over the temporary leave of their commander. They had to know somehow though. Palutena must have wanted him to tell them himself. He nodded to the Centurion who responded with another salute and pushed himself up into the air.

"Hey…wait." The soldier turned his face toward him.

"Yes, sir?"

Pit untangled the golden laurels from his head, pulling out a few of his own hairs in the process. "Oww…I'm going to go bald if this keeps up. Oh yeah. Centurion Strongarm, I'm going to leave on a mission toward earth. It's going to be dangerous, but it will be no problem for someone as strong as me. So don't worry about me…and don't follow me. Until I'm back, you are commander." He thrust the crown into the centurion's chest, and slid down the roof of the temple, not waiting for a response.

"Me? Commander? Earth? Wait, sir!" The centurion held the wreathe dumbfounded, waving it toward Pit.

"Take good care of everyone okay?" The boy waved back before dashing into the temple where Palutena awaited him.

"Whoa, I forgot how dark it is in here. I sure hope I don't trip over anything. " Pit commented. It's been a while since he'd been in the temple. There was really no need to once evil had been vanquished. Since then he hadn't gone through a warp gate either. He felt his stomach churn as he neared one of the doors. It wasn't like him to be nervous, but this somehow filled him with worry. This, this was his first outing without a mission. A purely pleasure trip. He could do what he wanted, yet, he realized he had no idea what he wanted.

"Having second thoughts Pit?" The goddess appeared before him and with a wave of her staff, the door opened to reveal open skies.

"Nah, of course not! I asked for this remember?" he told mostly himself. He did ask for this. It's too late to back down now, the gate is open.

"Good." She clasped her hands together. "The gate leads to the town you explored the most during Hade's invasion. I believe you were a ring back then, but hey, it might still be nice to start somewhere you've been. Even if you probably don't remember any of it." She laughed.

"Whenever you're ready Pit." She motioned her hand toward the doorway.

He cautiously stepped forward. A chilly wind flowed past him. A sea of fluffy white clouds awaited him. Below him was his destiny.

"Hey, Palutena." He grasped the edge of doorway, slowly peering downwards.

"Yes, Pit?"

"I have a favor to ask."

"You mean besides this one?" She leaned forward, her hands at her hips. Pit cringed slightly. He knew that look.

"I…I sorta want to do this on my own. You've always been a great help to me Lady Palutena. I just don't want the humans to think I'm crazy talking to myself, you know? Like Magnus thought. No eavesdropping either!"

"Well, I guess I can do that..." she began. "But-"

" Thank you Lady Palutena! You won't regret this!" He pulled himself back then slingshotted his way into the skies.

The wind whistled as it zoomed past him. The pressure was enormous. The wind seemed to escape out of him, and his breaths became labored. He slammed into a cloud, the water droplets sticking to him and instantly turning into ice.

"Oh no no no." Pit shook his head, now aware of his situation. He forgot to ask Palutena to borrow the power of flight. He was freefalling from who knows how high up, and the ground was rapidly approaching.

"Lady Palutena, help me!" He screamed but no reply came. He uselessly flapped his own wings, hoping against hope that he could fly on his own. Palutena said they couldn't. In order for him to fly his wings would have be much bigger than they are now, but his life was at stake. He had to try.

"Come on, stupid wings! Lady Palutena!" He cried again. As the earth rapidly approached, he felt his body grow lighter and lighter until, there was nothing at all. Darkness.


	3. Dead

_That's it, I'm dead. Dead dead dead. So dead. Deader than dead. _

The world was still pitch black around him. He clenched his eyes shut, grasping his head in anguish. He felt so dumb. How could he have forgotten he couldn't fly? That was Pit's special talent! Well, maybe talent isn't the right word, he thought.

He recalled what happened. He jumped out of the gate, fell thousands of feet, and now…he's alive? He felt around blindly with his hand. Well he had hands to feel around with, that's a good sign. Arms are there. Legs. Thighs. The sacred buns. Torso. Head. Pit could taste iron in his mouth. Kinda chucky iron too. He recognized it.

"Oh no. Blood! I'm survived but I'm going to die!" He rolled over to his back, stretching his arms to what he believed to be toward the heavens. "Palutenaaa! I'm hurt! Help me!"

"Stop being such a drama queen Pit." The voice rang loud and clear in his head.

"Lady Palutena! You came to rescue me! I'm bleeding!" He squirmed around in the dirt, waiting for an answer.

"Pit, I already did rescue you, and you're not bleeding. Now stop wiggling around. I worked hard on that outfit."

"Huh?" Pit sat up suddenly. A black cloth slipped off his face, finally letting him see the light of day. It was a cloak. His clothes had been replaced. Even more surprising was the iron flavoring he felt in his mouth. It wasn't blood. It was a chunk of dirt. He spit it out, desperately wiping his tongue to get rid of the flavor.

"Seee~ Told you. You're fine."

Pit pouted at nothing specific. The goddess was communicating in his mind after all. "So um…what happened?"

"What happened is that a certain angel got too excited and left before I could do anything. Then a beautiful goddess stepped in and decided that having a scrambled angel would look pretty bad, so she graciously rescued you."

"Oh. Thank you Lady Palutena! I would have been doomed without you!" It wasn't sarcasm. He really was grateful. More than anything, he felt a bit flustered at his blunder. He jumped to his feet, dusting off his new clothes. A black cloak, and underneath it, an odd white tunic with a gold trim that went up to his neck, and pants. He had never worn pants before. They felt a little restricting to him, along with the new pair of shoes he had gotten. They reminded him of the ones he saw Magnus wearing.

" So not that I'm complaining about your fashion sense…why the outfit? My old one was perfectly fine and not as...stiff as this one." He tugged at his pants trying to loosen their grip around his body a bit more.

"Excellent question, Pit!" The eagerness in her voice was clear as day. "See your old outfit would be kinda strange down here…" She hung on the final word, searching for the right way to explain to Pit.

"What's wrong with it? I think it looked good." He crossed his arms in defiance.

"Ha, good answer Pit! I designed it! It's just that, here on earth, humans don't wear those sorts of clothes. They wear…well other things. To be honest, I'm not really sure. I knew I had to hide your wings, so I gave you the cloak. Other than that, I just sorta winged it.~" She gave a laugh.

" You totally meant that pun didn't you?"

"I'm sorry, Pit! I couldn't help it! You should get going though. I'm only holding you up here. The town's about a half an hour walk from here to the east. Don't get into any trouble. That means, don't get into fights and no showing off your wings. Humans are kinda weird about angels. Oh! And from here on out, I will keep my promise about not eavesdropping, but good thing I broke it before, right?"

"Yeah…" Pit laughed nervously. "…I would have died." His face went deadpan.

"I know! That would have been a mess." she said in way too cheerful demeanor. "Well off you go my little angel."

"Thanks again Lady Palutena!" He waved toward the heavens, which were painted a soft gentle pink. Palutena answered him with silence. He really was alone now.

His first day on earth was nearly over, and he had spent most of it unconscious. He habitually opened his wings to gain some comfort before his hike, but the fabric weighed them down heavily. Keeping them open was no option. From here on out, he had to do things like a human would. He adjusted the cloak, and headed out, a blurry picture of a town in the distance acting like his map.

**A/N: Last of the short chapters. Also, I somehow gained a writing ability in this chapter. Previous chapters will be re-written if there is time. **


	4. Peace

Magnus lay flat in the single room his home consisted of. It had been a rather sleepy Friday. Nothing had been going around town during his time out in the morning. So he headed back home, somewhat comforted by the peace the town had quickly reclaimed in spite of the recent disasters.

"Everyone needs a day like this." The spotted dog lying beside him lifted his head up as a response. Magnus reached over and patted him on the head.

Maybe he would go out drinking tonight. Might as well, with nothing going on, a round of drinks with old friends would create some entertainment. For now, he enjoyed the silence, and shut his eyes for a nap.

A sudden knock on the door caused the pup to dash toward it, whining in excitement.

" Oh great. Guess I have to get up." He groaned. The knock intensified.

"Mister! Mister!" A tiny voice leaked in from outside.

"Yeah, Yeah, I'm coming." He pushed the dog aside to unhook the lock. Once the door was open, the dog bolted outside, nearly knocking down the small girl.

"Pit! Come back here! That damned dog. I'mma have to get it. " He looked down toward the ground. The child thrust a basket into his hands.

"What's this?" He looked into it to see a pile of small slightly burnt cookies.

"My mom wanted me to thank you for saving me when-when….hmmm, I walked into the street. I made them!" A huge grin of pride filled up her face.

"Aww thanks angel-face." He reached into his pocket and gave the kid a small coin. "Buy yourself something."

The child beamed at the small copper coin. "Thank you mister!"

"Don't mention it!" He waved as the girl ran off.

He placed the basket on the small rusted table he owned and headed out the door. His faithful companion was still out there and it was getting dark. During the day, that wouldn't have been a problem, but during the night, that's when monsters start appearing. There would be no guarantee he'd return. He sighed deeply. He was looking forward to this being a quiet day.

* * *

><p>Pit trudged along the dirt road to the town, his boots and cloak stained red with the dust of the earth. He breathed heavily as he walked. Countless horse drawn carriages and wagons passed him during his short journey, but no one paid him any mind. It was like he wasn't even there.<p>

Eventually he made it to the giant wooden town gates that protected the town from attacks. A stone wall surrounded the town, still bearing the marks of not too old war. Pit cringed a bit walking past the crumbling wall. While it wasn't him exactly, it was his body that had devastated this town during the Chaos Kin incident. He felt a bit guilty.

Inside, the city seemed to have healed itself from the war against it. Although nearing night time, the town bustled with activity. Women, guided by the lanterns the shop owners lit, forced their way inside small grocery stalls to get last minute ingredients for dinner, as young children ran around, shiny sparklers glowing in their hands. Construction time was ending, and many men were putting away their tools or laying down finishing touches on rebuilt houses and roadways.

Though he smiled and waved at everyone that walked by, there was no one who acknowledged him here either. Pit felt like an alien here. He thought at first he was being rude without realizing it, but that didn't seem to be the case. He was a stranger here. It was much different from Skyworld where everyone recognized him and pulled him aside to join in feasts and baths. He would have to earn the public's trust, just like he did with the gods.

"Humans really are just like the gods." He whispered to himself wandering through the alleyways he had been through when he controlled Magnus. They were still mostly intact, the setting sun coloring them an apricot orange. Walking such distances was something he hadn't done since the days of old. It felt weird to him, like he was heavily weighted down and sinking into the ground.

Speaking of weights, the cloak Palutena gave him was really taking his toll on him as well. The silky texture felt nice on his feathers, but his wings felt sore being in such an uncomfortable position for so long. He wanted it off. It would be a shame not to let his wings take in the light of his first sundown on his journey anyways. He scurried into an alleyway, peering around corners to make sure no human was walking down this road. He didn't want the humans to be "weird" about his wings, like Palutena said, whatever that meant.

He loosened the knot resting at his neck, and the cloak fell to the ground. No longer restrained, his wings popped open, a flurry of loose feathers floated toward the ground as Pit flapped them a bit. The wind on earth was much different than in Skyworld. It was much warmer and gentler.

"This must be the Goddesses doing." He looked up toward the heavens, expecting to see the image of Palutena, instead he got an eyeful of a grimy bearded man looking down on him from a rooftop.

Unsure of what to do, he nervously waved at the fellow. "Hiya, mortal?"

Overtaken by the threat of Pit, the old man hollered out, "IT'S THE ANGEL OF DEATH! HE'S RETURNED! ANGEL OF DEATH!"

The opening of doors and windows could be heard all around him. There was nowhere for him to run, if he dashed out of the alleyway, everyone would see him. He was frightened and confused about the whole situation. Is this what Palutena meant? He wasn't the angel of death, nothing near it, but if everyone thought he was…

Terrified, he headed deeper into the alley, and ducked behind a pile of trash, hoping he wouldn't be seen. It was the only thing he could do. He cursed himself for really going off on his own without at least having some way to contact the goddess in case he got in trouble.

"Is that you angel-face?" The voice made him scurry deeper into the garbage, where he curled himself up in a ball. A great shadow fell on top of him.

"So it is you." He looked up to see his old friend Magnus towering over him, Pit's cloak in his hand, and a leash attached to a small spotted dog in the other. Pit let out a wail of relief and he threw himself toward him, but Magnus jumped back to avoid it.

"Magnus! Oh I am so glad to see you here! You gotta help me! " Magnus raised a hand up.

"Whoa, hold it kid. I will. Just about everyone in town heard that scream. You're lucky I was around. Here put this on quick." He threw the cloak back to Pit, who recklessly tied it back on. It was covered in dust, but that was the least of his worries. A ground of townspeople had congregated at the mouth of the alleyway.

Magnus was the one to greet them. Pit stayed behind with the dog in the back alley. "Well, we having a party or what? Why are we all here?"

An older man broke from the ranks, a gun slung behind his shoulders.

"Don't play dumb Magnus, you heard it too. Someone screamed about an angel. You know what an angel could do with this town. You've seen it with your own eyes. "

"Yes, yes, I know, but are you really going to believe someone like old Larry up there?" He pointed toward the roof, where the old vagrant had already fallen asleep. "Look, a kid fell off a roof here. Larry must have hallucinated an angel."

A mummer spread across the crowd.

"How would you explain those white things then?" He pointed to the scattered feathers behind Magnus.

He simply shrugged. " Idiot kid was trying to catch a seagull when he fell. When the bird took flight, the kid thought he would too. Obviously, it didn't go too well for him. What kind of angel can't fly anyways?"

"Hey!" Pit exclaimed. Even in a made up story, his ability to fly was poked fun at. Magnus smirked at the comment.

He walked back into the alleyway, and slung Pit over his shoulder to carry him out, the dog trailing behind them. Pit begrudgingly let himself be carried this way, pathetic as he felt.

"Now I gotta fix this kid's arm before I go looking for any parents, so I leave you guys to your book meeting or whatever you're going to do here." Magnus waved off the crowd.

A couple of blocks down, Magnus let the angel down. Pit dusted himself off and heaved a heavy sigh of relief. He had escaped that near death situation with nothing but his ego hurt.

"Hey, Magnus, thanks."

"Yeah, don't thank me yet kid. Let's get to my place first. You're going to have to explain this entire situation to me."

"Oh of course!" Pit chirped. The angel quickly bounced back to his usual state haven been rescued by an old friend.


End file.
